Exceptionally rare work on the distillation of oil for medicinal purposes, with only one other copy recorded in sales records of the past hundred years. Divided in two parts, the first gives instructions on how to extract oils from herbs, seeds, and aromatics, while the second focusses on woods and gums. "As in alchemical writings of the fourteenth and fifteenth century the material, shape and size of the furnace are specified; also the number, quality and quantity of the vessels to be employed. Instructions follow how to extract oil from greasy woods, gums and harder varieties, and how to separate the viscous substance from the aqueous humor that had been distilled" (Thorndike). The work has been richly illustrated with woodcuts of the various tools and furnaces.
Jacques Besson (ca. 1540-1573) was a mathematician, inventor, and chemist, best known for his invention of the cosmolabe, an instrument used for navigation, surveying and cartography. He was likely born in The Republic of the Escartons, a group of mountain territories between Marseille and Turin, now divided between France and Italy. He taught mathematics in Paris, where he published his treatise on the cosmolabe, as well as his well-known Theatrum Instrumentorum (1571/72), which contained detailed descriptions and illustrations of machines and instruments he had invented. The present work is a French translation of his first treatise, De absoluta ratione extrahendi olea et aquas, published in Zürich in 1559, with an introduction by his friend Conrad Gesner (1516-1565). The French translation, which includes more illustrations than the Latin version, was first published in 1571 by Galiot du Pré in both an octavo and quarto edition. The present edition is the third. A fourth edition, now lost, followed in 1580.
With the bookplate of French numismatist A. Jouffray mounted on the front pastedown, and later annotations in some of the margins. The edges and corners of the boards are somewhat scuffed, the joints are slightly weakened, not affecting the structural integrity of the binding. The leaves are somewhat browned, with an occasional stain. Otherwise in good condition. Durling 567; Pettegree & Walsby 4023; USTC 24475; Wellcome I, 828; cf. Thorndike V, pp. 588-596; not in Adams; Duveen; Ferguson.